Beside You
by bigcraic
Summary: "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once." Rachel was looking to start a new life somewhere, so when her brother invites her to live in Australia with him and in his band mates, she couldn't refuse. However despite her best efforts, she starts to fall for one of the boys. But will it work, with her overprotective brother and the band's busy schedule


Rachel's POV

I gathered up all my suitcases and bags and started dragging them downstairs one by one. Once they were all in a pile at the bottom of the stairs, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Thanks so much for helping me" I said, play fully punching his arm. "Glad I could help," He smiled back, sticking his tongue out at me.

Ashton Irwin was my older brother. Growing up I rarely saw him, as he lived with our mum is Australia while I lived down here in England with our dad. Our parents got divorced when I was just 3 years old and Ashton was 5.

I had just finished my last gruelling year in high school and I decided I needed to get out of this country, as I always it lacked something for me. Ashton was 19 and part of a band back in Australia called 5 seconds of Summer with his three friends, Michael Clifford, Calum Hood and Luke Hemmings. I had never met any of them before but I had heard plenty about them.

He helped me collect all my bags and cram them into the back of dad's car as I took one last look at my old house, and then I shut the door, ready to start my new life in Australia.

When we arrived at the local train station, they helped me move my many suitcases and Ashton's one hold all to the platform. We had about 40 minutes to spare, so I went to the nearby Starbucks with my brother whilst dad waited patiently with all the luggage.

As the train pulled into the station, I shared a final embrace with my dad as he rubbed my back, telling Ash to take good care of me. We lugged all our stuff onto the already jam packed train, hopping into our reserved seats. I sat down next to the window, keeping an eye on my luggage, and watched as the city I grew up in zoom by and out of sight. The train to Manchester airport was a 3 hour journey so pulled out my book and my glasses, tuning out everyone else.

The train grinded to a stop and I looked up, my glasses falling down my nose slightly, and I saw we had arrived at the airport. I stretched, waiting for Ashton to move out of his seat so we could collect our things. We struggled off the train and manoeuvred our way through the crowds of business people and tourists, keeping a careful eye on all our things.

The next couple of hours after checking in were spent looking for a place to grab a bite to eat in one of the busy shops.

Ashton sat down at a table as I went to get some food, and I returned with two bottles of coke and some pasties about ten minutes later. I nervously tapped my foot as I picked at my food, staring straight forward at nothing in particular.

"Don't worry," Ashton grinned, placing his hand on my leg to stop it bouncing up and down, "You're going to love it in Australia. I'll help you. The rest of my band will help you."

I nodded, feeling a tiny bit better.

Time flew by and before I knew it, we were walking down the plane aisle looking for our seats. As I sat down, buckling my seat belt and waiting for the plane to take off, I watched the rain drizzle down the window. I planned to sleep for the most of the journey, seeing as it was around 20 hours long, with a stop off along the way in Singapore.

Michael's POV

I furiously tapped the buttons on my controller, determined to beat Calum. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him smile, as he caught up to me, making us neck and neck. I was about to cross the finish line when Luke lunged onto me, tickling me in my most ticklish spot. I flailed my arms around, supressing my laughter as Cal jumped up. "I WIN!" He screamed, doing a little victory dance

Luke got off of me and I sat back up. "Hey that's not fair, he tickled me!" I complained, throwing my arms in the air.

"Excuses excuses," He tutted, "Now, I believe you owe me a sandwich?"

I groaned, striding over to the kitchen. "I'll get you back for this hemmings," I muttered under my breath."

"I heard that!" Luke called from the other room.

I ignored him and began rummaging around the fridge.

As I walked back into the room carrying Calum's sandwich, I saw he was sat on the couch talking Luke. I placed the food on the table in front of them and sat down in the chair opposite them. "Ashton's coming back tomorrow!" Calum squealed, picking up the sandwich.

I smiled. Ashton had been gone for the last month, visiting his sister in the UK. He called about a week ago, telling us he would be returning with his younger sister, Rachel. We had never seen a picture of her before, except for the family photo Ash had in his room from when he was 5. She was going to be staying with us for a while in the spare bedroom until she got things sorted.

"I wonder if his sister's hot," I said, thinking out loud.

Luke rolled his eyes. "You heard what Ashton said," Calum laughed, throwing a cushion at me, "She's off limits."

"Well I hope he doesn't blame me when she falls for my irresistible charm" I teased, throwing the cushion back.

"Yeah that's likely," Luke snorted.

I held my hand to my heart. "Luke are you saying … I'm undesirable?" I gasped, pretending to be gutted.

He rolled his eyes again. "Yup," He said. I pulled him off the sofa and pinned him against the wall, however it wasn't very effective as he towered over me. He laughed, quickly sliding out my grip as I pouted. "Fine, be that way, I don't need you." I stomped over to my chair, fell down into it and crossed my arms. This made him laugh even more, and by now even Calum was laughing at me. I couldn't help but join in, cracking a smile as the boys rolled around in hysterics.

Rachel's POV

I felt ash shaking my arm and I opened my eyes, rubbing them as I looked out the window into the darkness. "What do you want" I asked groggily, looking over to him and glaring.

"We'll be landing in about 10 minutes" He laughed, "Your hair looks great by the way."

I pulled my hood up. I had picked the comfiest outfit to travel in, my light grey sweats, a plain blue tank top, my favourite dark grey hoodie and my black converses. It wasn't my most attractive outfit, and I was pretty sure I looked like a mess after over a day of traveling.

I had slept for about 10 hours on the first plane, and then spent the remaining hours reading. The transition in the second airport went relatively smooth, and I slept for the whole journey on the second plane.

"I'm knackered," I sighed to Ashton, "Leave me alone."

"Knackered?" He asked quizzically.

"Tired" I translated.

"Knackered" He said, mocking my Yorkshire accent, smiling, "You've spent most of the journey sleeping, how are you still tired?"

I shrugged and continued to look out the window, and I soon saw the lights for the runway in the distance. "Not long now," He whispered as he rubbed my hand, noticing what I was looking at. I could feel butterflies in the pit of my stomach as what I had been planning started to become a reality. I was nervous and excited at the same time about my future here down under.

The seat belt sign flashed, so I quickly readjusted myself so I could strap myself in, and I quickly felt the plane descending. My grip tightened on my brothers hand and we bounced along the run-way, our speed decreasing, until we final came to a stop.

The airport wasn't too hot, so I kept my hoodie on to cover my hair. We got through without a hitch, and when we got outside we found Michael waiting for us. He walked over to Ashton first, pulling him in for a manly hug, and then turned to me and introduced himself.

"Lovely to meet you," He smiled warmly, pulling me in for a hug, "I'm Michael, and you must be the lovely Rachel Irwin."

"I think I must be yeah" I said tiredly.

Both boys laughed at me, helping me get all my luggage into the car.

I sat in the back and drifted to sleep straight away, listening to the hum of the car engine.

When I opened my eyes, I was being carried by Ash. I kept my eyes shut and listened, hearing voices coming from a room nearby. He gently put me down onto the bed and I waited until I heard the door click shut, signalling he had left, until I sat up and opened my eyes. I was lying on a double bed in a plain room, with one large window to my right. I walked over to the window and looked out, gasping at the view. I could see for miles, and I could even see then Sydney Opera house. It was stunning.

I sat back down on my bed, listening to the mutters from somewhere outside the room.

I mainly heard questions about his trip to England, asking him what he had done, what the weather was like, how the journey back was, and I heard a few questions about me.

I zipped one of my suitcases open, pulling out some fresh clothes and dumping them on my bed. I wasn't ready to unpack yet. I quietly opened the door, trying to find the shower, deciding that was my first priority right now.

As I stepped out and pulled the door closed behind me, I heard someone coming down the corridor. I hoped it was my brother and not one of his band mates. But of course it wasn't my brother. Just my luck. I sighed. I really didn't want to meet any more people until I had tidied myself up to look a bit more presentable.

"Can you tell me where the shower is?" I asked as he came into view. It was the tall blond haired blue eyed one, Luke, I think I had heard his name was.

He pointed at a door. "Thanks," I mumbled, shuffling over to the door awkwardly with all my stuff. He opened it for me and smiled shyly. I locked the door behind me and dumped my shampoos and things onto a free shelf, looking around at all the other things that lay on different shelves. There was a range of different hair products scattered around. I peeled my clothes off and quickly hopped into the shower, letting the warm water relax me.

After about 20 minutes I stepped out the shower, feeling much more refreshed and awake. I rummaged around for a towel and gathered up my dirty clothes. As I opened the door, I stuck my head out to make sure no one was around and quickly made my way over to my bedroom. I heard the door beside me click open and the same boy from before nearly stepped out right into me, too busy with his phone. He looked up at me and quickly stepped back, apologizing and blushing as he rushed down the corridor.

I dashed into my bedroom, swinging the door shut behind me, grabbed the fresh clothes from before and pulled them on, and did my hair into a messy bun. I was feeling quite hungry by now so I took one last look in the mirror and stepped out of my room again.


End file.
